I cracked my back, stretching after a tiring lunch rush. Sam had something on the earlier part of the day so I covered her shift during lunch. What I didn't expect was the endless stream of customers entering my restaurant, an odd occurrence seeing that it was a Monday. I peeked through the kitchen window into the dining area. The crowd had finally thinned out a little over half an hour ago and I could finally catch my breath a little. Normally for a crowd like that, the kitchen needed to be at full strength, but this time we were down one extremely capable pair of hands in the form of Sam.
Alas, we did make it through albeit a little worse for wear. Sam was expected to be back soon so I waited for her, stepping into my office behind the kitchen. I sat down at my desk, leaning back into the chair. I looked at the desk to my right and saw the desk of Mr Ryan Goode empty. He usually didn't stay in office long seeing that he could easily work from home so it wasn't anything strange. I did wish he were there though, so I could talk to him.
I closed my eyes and put my hands behind my head, resting my feet onto my desk. The whole of the previous night was still stuck on my mind. The nice quiet dinner, the long walk on the beach. It would have been a perfectly executed date had it been taken out of context. But of course, that was out of the question because, as I kept reminding myself, Chris McCray was straight.
A knock on the door pulled me from my thoughts. "Come in." I announced, removing my feet from the desk. The door cracked open and Sam's head popped in.
"Hey boss, I'm back. Lance told me lunch rush was crazy just now." She said.
"Yeah no kidding." I said, getting up from my chair. "So do you need me to stay around or anything?"
"Nah, I think I can manage. Besides, you handled lunch, let me handle dinner." I untied my apron, hanging it on the coat rack in the corner.
"Okay. Just call me if you need help and I'll be right down."
"Sure thing boss." Sam said, closing the door behind her.
I removed the chef's jacket and hung in together with the apron. Walking over to my desk, I got my personal belongings from my desk drawer, stuffing them into my pockets. I exited my office and walked through the kitchen, waving bye to any employees I saw.
I made my way to my car and drove home. Approaching my house, I saw a car already parked in my driveway. One look at the black jeep and I knew it was Ryan's. I was a little confused. Why was Ryan at my house? He knew I was working that afternoon and if he had wanted to see me, he would have gone down to the restaurant. I parked beside his jeep, making my way over to my door. Before opening I could make out voices from inside but I couldn't hear what they were talking about.
I slot the key in and opened my door. I saw Ryan sitting on the couch facing Chris. Chris's eyes darted to me when the door opened and his face just screamed 'HELP ME!'. I smiled and walked over to Ryan who was still talking and hadn't noticed me come in.
"Ryan what are you doing here?" I asked, dropping my keys onto the coffee table. My voice seemingly startled Ryan and he turned to face me.
"Justin!!!" He said, in mock excitement.
"I hope you're not harassing my guest with questions now."
"What? No!" He lied, pretty badly I might add. I rolled my eyes and grabbed his arm, pulling him up off the couch.
"Give us a minute." I said to Chris, who was on the verge of laughing. I pulled Ryan to the kitchen, pushing him to the sink before letting go of his arm. We were out of earshot from Chris who was in the living room.
"Ow." He exclaimed, rubbing the arm I was just squeezing. "What was that for?" I raised my eyebrow at him. "What?"
"You owe me a hundred bucks." I said, smirking.
"Oh you remember that bet?" He asked, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Oh yeah I remember it." I leaned onto the kitchen island behind me. "Told you I would win."
"Wait how do I know you haven't been tripping over him too? I'm pretty sure it's bothering you. I can see it on your face."
"Hey the bet was that I make a move on him. I didn't. Whatever happens in my mind doesn't count." I said.
"Whatever. Fine you win." He said, taking out his wallet and handing me a hundred bucks. "It was worth it though. Dude Amy is like more amazing than I thought. According to Chris, she's like this crazy talented, smart and funny girl. Man I think I've fallen in love."
"Well lover boy I think it's time for you to leave." I said, pushing him out of the kitchen.
"Wait what? No I have some more questions." He said, as I pushed him past Chris sitting in the living room.
"Oh no you don't." I gave him one last push to the door. He turned and looked at me, clearly irritated.
"Fine. Bye." He said, straightening his jacket, before opening the door and leaving. I turned back to Chris who was watching us.
"Sorry about that." I apologized.
"He really likes Amy doesn't he." He said.
"That's an understatement." I said, crashing onto the seat beside him.
"Well thanks for showing up then. I didn't think I could take any more questions." He said, his body going limp into the couch, feigning fatigue. I laughed. "At first I thought it was you coming back but it turned out to be Ryan."
My eyes travelled to the script sitting on the coffee table. "You were memorizing lines again?"
"Nah, just practicing them. You know, trying to get the feel of the character and what not. I've been having some problems getting it out right for some scenes." He said, grabbing the script from the table.
"Oh, do you need someone to practice with? I'm no actor but I think I can read some lines."
"Oh okay...um, hold on." He flipped through the script till he found the scene he was looking for before handing me the stack of papers. "I remember the lines so you read from the script."
"Okay. Um so..." I asked, unsure of how to do this.
"I'll start. I'm Harvey. You're Anne." He clarified. "Hey, is everything okay?" He said, already in character. I scanned the page for his line and found it. I looked at the line following for Anne.
"It's nothing." I read the line. The following line was an acting cue which read 'look distracted', which I tried to do but could have come out as a constipated look instead. I stole a glance at Chris to see if he was laughing but he wasn't, completely in character.
"You always say that. You know I can tell when you're lying."
"So what if something is bothering me, it's not anything you can help with okay." I said.
"C'mon Anne. You know I can read you like a book." He said. The following line said to look angry, so I furrowed my eyebrows and tried my best to look angry.
"Oh really. You must be illiterate then because you obviously aren't reading correct." I said. After saying it I realized it would have been better shouted but I was no professional actor. Chris lowered his head in thought, building up the tension from the scene.
"I think I do know though." He whispered, eyes transfixed on my hands. "But Anne, you and I. You know we can never be. I just don't see you that way." He took hold of my hand and I almost gasped at his touch. His eyes bore into mine and I felt like I was melting into them. For a moment, I really felt like I was Anne and this conversation was happening between Chris and myself.
"You think I don't know that? I know you won't ever like me like that but hell I didn't ask for this Harvey. You think I want to be miserable?" I said. Chris squeezed my hand tighter.
"I'm sorry Anne." He looked down, breaking eye contact with me. I looked down at the script and read the next line.
"I'm sorry too Harvey. I know a lost cause when I see one." At my words, he looked up at me.
"Look I can try. For our friendship, I can try." He said.
"You can't try to love me Harvey. It just won't work like that. I can't have you force yourself to love me just because of our friendship. I'm going to be fine." I looked at the next line but it wasn't dialogue. The line read 'Harvey slowly leans in and places a kiss on Anne's lips'.
My eyes shot up to Chris's face. His eyes stared into mine. I felt his right hand travel up to my cheek, nestling it in the palm of his hand. I was frozen. Slowly the distance between our faces shortened, his eyes closing when he was inches from my face. His lips touched mine, sending electricity flying across my body, radiating from my lips. My eyes were wide open, a marked contrast to his, which were closed shut. He moved his lips ever so slightly, each little twitch sending a buzz through my body. Slowly he pulled away, his hand dropping to his side, but I could still feel my lips tingling.
He slowly opened his eyes and took in my shocked expression. I knew actors were dedicated but this was just crazy to me. I mean the kiss could have been skipped. It's not like this was the actual filming or anything. He stared at me for close to half a minute and I stared back, unsure of what to say. Finally breaking from my trance, I looked down at the script and read my next line. "It's not the same Harv. You don't love me." My voice wavering as I said it. The line was so far from how I was feeling though. That kiss was beyond words for me.
I waited for Chris to say his next line, to continue with the scene, but he just stared at me. Without a warning, his hand travelled to the back of my head and pulled me to him. His lips crashed with mine, reigniting the dwindling flames on my lips. Out of shock, I dropped the script onto the floor. He moved his lips against mine, sucking on my lower lip. I should have pulled away and broke the kiss, but I couldn't, my arms not listening to anything by brain was asking. Instinct took over as I closed my eyes and returned the kiss. I was slowly pushed down onto the couch, Chris straddling my waist, fervently kissing my lips. I felt his tongue brush my lips, begging for entry and I tentatively opened them, allowing him entrance.
